Today our Reader Spotlight shines on Clifford Brooks who is currently touring/promoting his book of poetry, The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, released last year by John Gosslee Books. It was nominated for both the Pulitzer and Georgia Author of the Year. Find out more at http://www.cliffbrooks.com/. Clifford also works as an SEO writer, freelances for a magazine, and is a voracious reader.

Clifford Brooks, reading Carve since 2011. What first attracted you to Carve magazine?

There’s never a bad apple when it comes to Carve. Each story, as different as it may be in subject matter, voice, location, and/or tone — there is one thing they all have in common: Every story is really, really good.

What characteristics do you look for in a good story?

As a writer of prose and poetry, I look for short story writers who mix a more melodic use of language over the sparse, Hemingway-esque variety. A writer of prose has to be wary not to go overboard with the florid colors they use to make dialogue/scenery pop. It can get deep quickly. To curb my desire to spruce up every line of prose, coming back to the Hemingway-esque sense of sparse is a good thing. Carve delivers both of these flavors.